Prince's vault being shopped to U.S. labels for $35m - report

Prince's vault of unreleased music is reportedly up for sale for $35 million (£29 million).

The singer left a host of songs behind when he died from an opioid overdose on 21 April (16).

There has been much speculation about what will happen to the music, which includes tracks such as Extraloveable, Electric Intercourse and Rebirth of the Flesh, all of which have been bootlegged but never officially released.

Now it has been claimed that the vault is being shopped to the three major record labels in America - Sony, Universal and Warner - by Prince's estate advisers Charles Koppelman and L. Londell McMillan.

The three labels are apparently desperate to get their hands on the Purple Rain legend's legacy, with the price currently standing at $35 million.

"All three major labels are said to be in talks for rights to the music," the source told Billboard.com. The unnamed insider added to the outlet that a deluxe edition of Purple Rain, originally announced in 2014, is now likely to be released next year (17), while a new greatest hits compilation is also expected to hit shelves by the end of the year (16).

The vault also includes concert footage and hundreds of hours of live recordings of Prince. Musician Brent Fischer, who worked on string arrangement for the singer, recently spoke about the contents to the BBC.

"I think over 70 per cent of the music we've worked on for Prince is yet to be released," he said. "There are lot of songs that were sent to us clearly with the idea that they would never be released. They were almost comical songs that he would work out with his horn players. There was lot of wild horn parts and experimentation with samples."

However, Prince's estate advisers, who were appointed to handle the singer's entertainment assets following his death, previously revealed they were hoping to incorporate Prince's vault into a Broadway project or a Cirque du Soleil show.

"We're going to be having a good time," Koppelman told New York Post's Page Six. "There is so much to be done with this estate. There are vaults full of music."

"Prince was an icon on the level of The Beatles and Michael Jackson, and his legacy should be honoured. Though his name was Prince, I always thought he was the king of music."

While they are estate advisers, Koppelman and McMillan are not owners of the music. Ownership of the vault material is unknown. A lot of the songs were recorded when Prince was signed with Warner Bros, while others were produced when he was under contract with other labels.

When Prince died, he did not leave a will, meaning that the court is involved to decide how to divide up his estate. The case is ongoing.